An e.coli outbreak at a North Yorkshire nursery has now affected 12 children and one adult.

The latest child to test positive for the infection is related to a youngster at the Busy Bears Nursery in Skipton, where the illness was discovered last week.

Children in neighbouring nurseries and the local community are under close surveillance but no new cases have been identified outside Busy Bears.

The outbreak control team says the nursery can re-open on Monday 9 December.

Repeat screening

The latest child to contract e.coli o157 has been admitted to hospital but since been released.

Repeat screening of all the children in the nursery is continuing.

Only children found to be negative after the latest round of screening will be allowed to return to the nursery.

Dr Ebere Okereke, Consultant on Communicable Disease Control in North Yorkshire said: "Measures have been put in place to ensure that any new cases are identified promptly.

"These measures include a daily visit to the nursery by an infection control nurse and a health visitor."

E.coli o157 is a serious food poisoning bug and can potentially lead to acute kidney failure.

An investigation by the local environmental health unit later concluded that the source of the outbreak was "outside the nursery." It found the infection was introduced into the nursery where it was spread by person to person contact. A spokesman told the BBC they were "generally happy with standards at the nursery." They also recommended that nurseries should have "a clear exclusion policy for children with gastrointestinal symptoms and these should be rigorously applied." This guidance has been issued to all playgroups and nurseries in North Yorkshire.